Integral brake-by-wire braking system for motorcycles, control method for an integral braking system for motorcycles and a related motorcycle

Abstract

A braking system for a motorcycle may have at least (a) a first brake associated with a front wheel of the motorcycle, at least a first electro-hydraulic or electro-mechanical actuator, operatively connected to the first brake, (b) at least a first manual actuation command, associated with and corresponding to the at least one first brake, to send a braking request from a user, (c) at least a second brake associated with a rear wheel of the motorcycle, (d) at least a second electro-hydraulic or electro-mechanical actuator, operatively connected to the second brake, (e) at least a second manual actuation command, associated with and corresponding to the at least one second brake, to send a brake request from a user, and (f) a control unit operatively connected to the first manual actuation command, to the second manual actuation command and to the first and second electro-hydraulic or electro-mechanical actuators.

The invention claimed is: 
     
         1 . A braking system for a motorcycle comprising:
 at least one first brake associated with a front wheel of said motorcycle,   at least one first electro-hydraulic or electro-mechanical actuator, operatively connected to said first brake,   at least one first manual actuation command, associated with and corresponding to said at least one first brake, to send a braking request from a user,   at least a second brake associated with a rear wheel of said motorcycle,   at least a second electro-hydraulic or electro-mechanical actuator operatively connected to said second brake,   at least a second manual actuation command, associated with and corresponding to said at least one second brake, to send a braking request from a user,   a control unit operatively connected to the first manual actuation command, the second manual actuation command and said first and second electro-hydraulic or electro-mechanical actuators,   wherein said control unit is programmed to:   receive a braking request from the user following actuation of at least one of said manual actuation commands,   interpreting the braking request as a function of which or how many actuation commands have actually been actuated, and/or the intensity of such actuation given by a stroke and/or actuation force or pressure of the corresponding manual actuation command,   activating at least one of said electro-hydraulic or electromechanical actuators, irrespective of the effective actuation of the corresponding manual actuation command, so as to obtain a deceleration of the motorcycle as a function of said braking request, wherein said control unit is further programmed to perform a distribution of the braking forces between the first and second electro-hydraulic or electro-mechanical actuators as a function of the mass of the motorcycle, the speed of the motorcycle, and/or the front and rear weight distribution of the motorcycle and/or bend angle of the motorcycle.   
     
     
         2 . The braking system for a motorcycle according to  claim 1 , wherein the control unit is programmed to perform a distribution of the braking forces between the first and second electro-hydraulic or electro-mechanical actuators even in the case of a single manual actuation command being actuated. 
     
     
         3 . The braking system for a motorcycle according to  claim 1 , wherein the control unit is programmed to perform actuation of only the first electro-hydraulic or electro-mechanical actuator in the case of actuation of only the second manual actuation command. 
     
     
         4 . The braking system for a motorcycle according to  claim 1 , wherein the control unit is programmed to perform actuation of only the second electro-hydraulic or electro-mechanical actuator in case of actuation of only the first manual actuation command. 
     
     
         5 . The braking system for a motorcycle according to  claim 1 , wherein said first brake and second brake comprise disc brakes. 
     
     
         6 . The braking system for a motorcycle according to  claim 1 , wherein the control unit translates the signal originating from the actuation of each manual actuation command into an overall deceleration request of the motorcycle. 
     
     
         7 . The braking system for a motorcycle according to  claim 1 , wherein the control unit translates the signal originating from the actuation of each manual actuation command into a request for braking force to be applied to each or to at least one brake. 
     
     
         8 . A motorcycle comprising a system according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         9 . A braking system for a motorcycle comprising:
 at least one first brake associated with a front wheel of said motorcycle,   at least one first electro-hydraulic or electro-mechanical actuator, operatively connected to said first brake,   at least one first manual actuation command, associated with and corresponding to said at least one first brake, to send a braking request from a user,   at least a second brake associated with a rear wheel of said motorcycle,   at least a second electro-hydraulic or electro-mechanical actuator operatively connected to said second brake,   at least a second manual actuation command, associated with and corresponding to said at least one second brake, to send a braking request from a user,   a control unit operatively connected to the first manual actuation command, the second manual actuation command and said first and second electro-hydraulic or electro-mechanical actuators,   wherein said control unit is programmed to:   receive a braking request from the user following actuation of at least one of said manual actuation commands,   interpreting the braking request as a function of which or how many actuation commands have actually been actuated, and/or the intensity of such actuation given by a stroke and/or actuation force or pressure of the corresponding manual actuation command,   activating at least one of said electro-hydraulic or electromechanical actuators, irrespective of the effective actuation of the corresponding manual actuation command, so as to obtain a deceleration of the motorcycle as a function of said braking request, wherein the control unit is programmed to perform a distribution of the braking forces between the first and second electro-hydraulic or electro-mechanical actuators even in the case of a single manual actuation command being actuated.